YuGiOh Galaxies: The Sphinx Crystal
by Kitsune Triforce
Summary: In a galaxy worlds apart from the Star Wars one, legend tells of a crystal in the shape of a dragon that grants the wish of whoever touches it. Evil must never be allowed to obtain it...
1. Chapter 1: A Bounty Worth Claiming

Note: Yet another crossover! This time around, it's YGO and Star Wars, with a hint of the His Dark Materials trilogy. Oh, and even though it's spelled "daemon", it's pronounced "demon".

Disclaimer: Own YGO, SW, and HDM I do not.

……………….

Yu-Gi-Oh Galaxies Book One: The Sphinx Crystal

Chapter One: A Bounty Worth Claiming

………………..

There was no doubt about it- Seto Kaiba was the galaxy's best bounty hunter.

His origins were shrouded in mystery. All that was really known was that he had been born on a planet that was constantly torn apart by war for some reason or another. He had a little brother, as well-it was said that his brother was the reason Seto had taken up a bounty hunter's life. It was the only way he could make enough sovereigns to keep his brother safe and well-cared for.

However, it wasn't just his back story that awed those around him, it was his mere presence. Tall and intimidating, Seto had the air of a natural leader and gained respect instantly. His daemon, Ilena, also added to his intimidating presence. She was wolf-formed, tawny-furred with bright green eyes that seemed to pierce through to a person's very soul. There was no finer pair of human and daemon in the galaxy.

That was exactly why they had been summoned to an interview for a new job.

………………….

Mokuba looked around the space station in fascination. Seto had turned him loose in here while he had gone off to his job interview. Mokuba was filled with anticipation; he had never set foot in a space station before. Seto had always left him on the ship before when they stopped to pick up supplies or a new job.

Mokuba's daemon, who was currently in her shyest form as a mouse, sat inside his shirt pocket. Her name was Liasara, and despite her shy attitude, she was just as eager to see a space station as her human was.

Liasara poked her ruffled little mouse head out of Mokuba's pocket and spoke. "It's very crowded in here. I don't like it. Too many strange people. And aliens, too!"

Mokuba looked left and right. Liasara was right, it was crowded. He was used to it just being him, Liasara, Seto and Ilena. Now, finding himself surrounded by so many unfamiliar faces, human and daemon alike, made him feel slightly uneasy. However, the sight of the aliens made him feel downright shocked.

Seto had told him that the major thing that made aliens different from humans was the fact that humans had daemons and aliens did not. No one knew why this was, Seto had told him, but it had always been that way, and it always would be. Seeing the truth of that now made Mokuba regard the aliens with a mixture of fascination and nervousness.

"They really aren't like us at all, are they, Lia?" He asked his daemon.

Liasara crawled out of Mokuba's pocket and changed into an owl, staring wide-eyed at all the daemon less aliens.

"I wonder if they ever get lonely, all by themselves like that," Mokuba mused to himself.

Suddenly, Liasara leapt to the floor and changed into a wolf, very much like Seto's daemon, except Lia's fur was snowy white. "Mokuba! There's kids over there! Human kids…and alien kids, too!"

Sure enough, a ragtag group of children where heading over towards them, the humans with their daemons flying, trotting, or slithering alongside them, while the alien children walked by themselves, not a part of the group entirely; only loosely attached.

Liasara walked forward and touched noses with the lead child's daemon, a tough looking cat.

"Hey, you're new 'round here. I never seen you here before," the boy who appeared to be the gang's leader said contemptuously. "You're a drifter, aren't you?"

Liasara growled at the boy, disgusted with the way he was talking to Mokuba. The boy's cat daemon changed into a rat. She climbed up onto her human's shoulder and whispered something in his ear.

Almost immediately, the boy's attitude towards Mokuba seemed to have changed.

"You're Kaiba's brother? What are you doing here? I'm Alkanet, by the way."

"I'm Mokuba," Mokuba said cautiously. "We're here because Seto's looking into a new job."

"Really." Alkanet didn't seem impressed. "I bet you're rich. Do you have a lot of money with you now?"

Without warning, Alkanet's daemon became a lioness and leapt at Liasara, who, caught off guard, was helpless as the lioness daemon started scratching at Liasara's fur in earnest. Alkanet took advantage of the distraction the daemon's fight was causing, and leapt at Mokuba, bringing him to the ground.

"You do have money with you, right? Give it to me!" Alkanet was bigger than Mokuba, and held him easily down. Mokuba shook his head, crying out when the lioness daemon struck Liasara. Alkanet brought his fist back, ready to punch the smaller boy.

"Al! What to you think you're doing! Stop it right now!"

Someone had grabbed Alkanet and pulled him off of Mokuba. Mokuba scrambled up to see a human girl that was older than Alkanet pulling him off. Alkanet's daemon had been pulled away from Liasara as well, by a large fisher who, Mokuba realized, must be the girl's daemon.

The girl was berating Alkanet.

"Mom's told you again and again to stop stealing from other kids! You are going to be in a lot of trouble this time! You and your friends better get out of here. NOW!"

With a glowering look at the older girl, Alkanet and his daemon pulled a hasty retreat with their friends following.

The girl turned to Mokuba, who had taken the once again mouse-formed Liasara and was comforting her. The fisher daemon came up beside the girl, and he spoke briefly with her.

"I'm sorry about my little brother. He's a rotten bully. My name is Katrina. Are you all right?"

Mokuba shook his head. "She hurt us."

Katrina smiled gently. "Why don't you come with us to the Cantina? They serve regular food there, too. I'm sure they'll have something you like."

Mokuba nodded, following Katrina and her daemon to the food center.

………………..

Seto couldn't sit still for very long; he got up and started pacing the length of the room he was waiting in. If there had been anyone else in the room, they would have made excuses to get out of the place-that was how intimidating Seto was while pacing. However, there was no one in the room except for Seto and his daemon. Ilena lay on the floor, her front paws crossed. She looked up at Seto.

"Do they intend to give us the interview in here?"

Seto stopped pacing. "Apparently," he said in a tired voice. "But I don't think it's exactly polite of them to keep us waiting like this."

Ilena swished her tail slightly. "You need to rest, Seto. _We _need to rest. It was a long journey here. It was hard on all of us."

Seto sat down again, and Ilena came up to him, resting her head on his knee. Seto gently ran his hand over his daemon's head. "After this interview is over, we'll go back to the ship and all four of us will get a nice rest."

The door at the far end of the room opened then, and two human men, one old and one Seto's age, walked inside.

Seto stood up immediately, going over to shake the older man's hand, while Ilena and the old man's daemon, a rather large turtle, acknowledged each other.

"Mr. Kaiba," the old man, who was dressed in an Admiral's uniform, spoke solemnly as he shook Seto's hand. "We are honored by your presence here. I apologize for the wait. One of customers at the cantina had a little too much to drink. It's taken care of now, though. Nothing to worry about."

"Admiral Motou. It's a pleasure to meet you, as well," Seto replied as he returned the Admiral's handshake.

Admiral Motou motioned to the boy Seto's age. "This is my grandson, Yugi. He's a tactical information officer, and he'll provide you with any information you need."

Seto nodded in Yugi's direction, and the spiky-haired young man nodded back. Yugi's mouse daemon was perched on his shoulder, grooming her whiskers. She paused long enough to glance at Ilena, who growled at her in acknowledgment.

"Please," Admiral Motou motioned towards the chairs. "Sit and we'll talk."

Once the three were situated comfortably in the chairs and the daemons were in their customary places beside them, Admiral Motou leaned forward, his manner turning serious.

"Mr. Kaiba, have you ever heard of an operation called _intercision_?"

Seto blinked. There was something hostile and evil about that word, and even though he had never heard of it before, he could sense it right away. He shook his head. "No, Admiral, I can't say that I have."

Admiral Motou sighed. "That's not surprising. It has only come to light very recently. It is an evil thing, and what's worse, there is an individual who is planning to do it in order to get something very important. What intercision is, Mr. Kaiba, is a method of cutting a human's daemon away."

Ilena's hackles rose and she growled deep in her throat. Seto sat in shocked silence for a moment, and then finally found his voice again. "Cutting…a human's daemon away? That's impossible!"

Yugi spoke next. "We thought it was impossible too, Mr. Kaiba, at first. But then, we…we…" Yugi couldn't continue. Admiral looked pointedly at Yugi's daemon. Daemons were normally silent around all humans except their own, but they did speak to others when the need arose.

The mouse spoke up. "We were far out in the middle of the galaxy, on a small planet called Malkarrs. We then came across something that was very strange. There was a young human man, only a year or two younger than us. He was on his own, without any daemon at all. He didn't make sense when he spoke usually, and he died soon after we found him. We learned from the locals that there was someone who was experimenting on the connection between humans and their daemons, and also trying to figure out why aliens don't have daemons. We didn't get a name, but we were told that this…this creature that had done it left the planet a few days after the half-man died."

Yugi, who seemed to have regained his composure, spoke next. "After we left Malkarrs, we soon came across another half-person. Even though she was in bad shape, and also died soon after we found her, she was able to tell us the name of the one who was heading the experiment."

Seto leaned forward. "Who was it?"

"Baccah," Yugi's daemon replied. "Baccah the Draconian."

"Baccah…" Seto said in surprise, a hard edge to his voice. "The same Baccah who rebelled against the Draconian King and killed hundreds of innocent people on the planet Bolvan?"

"The one and the same," Admiral Motou claimed.

Seto clenched his fist. "Bolvan was my homeworld. Baccah was responsible for the death of my parents. And now he's cutting daemons away from their humans? That's unforgivable!"

"That is why we want you to catch him and his followers, Mr. Kaiba," Admiral Motou said. "You are the best bounty hunter in the galaxy. You are the only one who can do it."

Seto stood up, breathing hard. "I'll do it…I'll bring that monster to justice."

Yugi stood up as well. "Calm down, Mr. Kaiba. You need to keep a level head if you want to catch him."

"My grandson is right," Admiral Motou said, looking at Seto in concern. The boy's reaction to the news of what Baccah was doing concerned him. "Cool your head here for a while. Once we get a firm grasp on where Baccah is headed, we'll let you know."

Seto took a deep breath, and nodded. "Right, I'll stay. Thank you for trusting me with this job."

………………………………

Mokuba had gotten a small meal at the cantina, and now he sat at a corner booth with Katrina. They had arrived there shortly after a fight had been broken up, so they had been able to get in line and order food quickly while those who had been distracted by the fight where trying to sort out exactly what had happened.

"So, what planet are you from, Mokuba?" Katrina asked as they ate their meals.

"I dunno," Mokuba replied. "I've lived in space ever since I can remember. I never asked my big brother where we came from."

Liasara, still in her favorite traveling form as a mouse, gave an excited squeak. Mokuba and Katrina turned to see Seto walking towards them.

Mokuba sprang up from his seat at once, Liasara jumping onto his shoulder as he raced towards Seto. "Big brother!" He gave his brother a big hug and smiled up at him. "How did the interview go? Did you get the job?"

Seto nodded, returning Mokuba's hug. "Yes, I got the job." He looked at Katrina, slight suspicion in his eyes. "Who are you?"

"This is Katrina and Martin," Mokuba told his brother. "They stopped her brother from beating us up!"

Katrina nodded. "My brother is a bully. I'm always stopping him from ganging up on younger kids."

Seto gave her a long look. "Thank you for helping Mokuba," he said at last. He turned to his brother. "Grab your food, Mokuba. We're going back to the ship."

"Okay, Seto," Mokuba grabbed his sandwich and drink, and then waved at Katrina. "Bye! And thanks!"

"Goodbye," Katrina said, watching as the two brothers left the cantina. She shook her head, pulled out a comlink, and spoke into it. "Sir? You're going to have Seto Kaiba on your trail. Do you still intend to carry on as planned?"

"Yes," a snarling voice replied from the comlink. "Keep an eye on them. In a few days, I'm going to make our presence known, and I want you to contact me as soon as they leave. I want to prepare a proper welcome for the famous Kaiba brothers."

"As you wish, sir," Katrina replied, shutting down the comlink. She continued to watch the receding brothers. She looked down at her daemon. "They seem nice, Martin. Too bad they are now in our way."

Martin said nothing. He watched Mokuba's daemon with a feeling of pity. Those poor young ones, he thought, they have no idea what's in store for them.

……………………

On a planet far away from the space station, Baccah stood, watching the sunset.

Baccah was a full grown Draconian (Draconians were a dragon like race with retractable wings and high intelligence) and a powerful one at that. His right claw rested on the hilt of his blaster as he watched the approaching scouts. The wind blew his braids of dark hair back; narrowing his yellow-green eyes, he stared haughtily at the cringing forms of the scout Draconians.

"Well?" He said in a deep, growling voice. "Were you successful in creating an unsolvable dilemma for my foolish old clan to deal with?"

"Yes, My Lord," one scout said. "With the cavern sealed tightly off, no Draconians can get inside to perform the wing-growing ritual. The boulder blocking the entrance cannot be moved by any number of Draconians. Or any other race, for that matter."

"Perfect," Baccah growled. "Soon, my old clan's way of life will be completely destroyed. They'll fall into disarray, and that's when we'll take over."

Baccah clenched his left claws into a fist. "Soon, we'll have a whole city in which to conduct our experiments! Let the Tuatara Galactic Government try to stop us then!"

Baccah's insane laughter echoed throughout the mountains. The two scouts cringed, knowing full well that attempting to laugh along with their master would be a grave mistake. Baccah was violent and unpredictable, but he was also cunning and smart, and for this reason they followed him. He was a true leader, and they respected him. Anyways, they knew that any attempt to go against his orders only lead to one thing: certain death.

So the two scouts kept silent.

Baccah once again faced the sunset, an insane smile now working its way across his face. Soon, he vowed to himself, I will find the missing link. And once I have a daemon of my very own, no one will stand in my way! Not even the great Seto Kaiba!

His laughter continued to ring throughout the mountains as darkness overtook the sky.

…………………….

So, what do you think? Read and Review please!


	2. Chapter 2: Information

The disclaimer from the previous chapter still stands.

And yes, Baccah's name is a play on the Japanese word Bakka, which basically means idiot, moron, and almost any other insulting name you can think of. Baccah is an idiot for doing the things he does. A dangerous, evil idiot.

Yu-Gi-Oh Galaxies: The Sphinx Crystal

Chapter Two: Information

…………………………

Bolvan used to be a peaceful planet, but such times do not last forever. New planetary leaders came and went, each on bringing their own ideas of what constituted the "correct" way for the planet to be run. It was only a matter of time before someone snapped.

It happened like this.

About five hundred standard years ago, a man named Waotir rose to the position of sovereign on the planet. He was a fierce man, and his laws were extremely strict. It was tyranny, pure and simple, and the citizens of Bolvan weren't going to stand for it.

War broke out, those who supported Waotir on one side and those who wanted him out on the other. For some reason or other, the war never really ended. Waotir's family stayed in power, each generation ruling as their parents had done. The fighting continued all those years.

It about ten years ago, the draconian known as Baccah discovered the war-torn Bolvan. Baccah had an unnatural curiosity about daemons, and he wanted to see what happened to the daemon after its human died. He could have captured some humans to do this, but Baccah decided that killing on a already devastated planet wouldn't gain much attention. Leading his army there, he headed a massive slaughter, with his army killing all humans, adult and child alike, that stood in their way. Among those killed where Seto and Mokuba's parents.

Seto was fifteen and Mokuba was just a baby at the time. Seto took his brother and fled the planet after watching his parents get cut down as they tried to buy their sons some time. Seto's last memory of his home planet was Baccah laughing insanely as he stood over the prone forms of Seto's parents.

It's understandable, then, why Seto bears a strong hatred for Baccah.

……………………………

Mokuba, being raised on a starship for basically his entire life, didn't know the whole story behind their current lives. Their parents were dead and they had been forced to leave their home planet; that was all Seto had told him. Seto had taken care of him since before he could even talk, and to Mokuba, Seto was just as much of a father as he was a brother. Seto schooled him, played with him, took care of him when he was sick or hurt, and comforted him whenever he had a bad dream. Mokuba loved his big brother with all his might, and Seto felt the same way towards Mokuba.

So with this new assignment, Seto felt it was too dangerous to bring Mokuba along, but he didn't want to leave Mokuba and Lia alone on the station with no one they knew.

"Mokuba," Seto said to his brother as the four of them entered he ship, "The new job I've agreed to is very dangerous, so I want you to be extra careful. I don't want you to be in harm's way, but I also don't want you to be with a bunch of people you don't know on this station. You're coming with me, but, again, be careful."

Ilena growled to emphasize this statement, and Mokuba nodded. Liasara showed her agreement by changing into a leopard.

"We'll be careful, big brother, I promise."

Satisfied that Mokuba was going to comply with his wishes, Seto smiled and fondly ruffled his little brother's hair. "It's getting late, kiddo. Finish your meal, then get to bed."

"Okay, Seto." With Liasara on his shoulder once again as a mouse, Mokuba took his food into the dining area of the ship to finish eating.

……………………………………………………

Yugi Motou was hard at work, trying to gather info on Baccah's whereabouts, when the door to his quarters opened, and his older brother walked into the room, his falcon daemon flying in ahead of him to perch on the back of an empty chair next to Yugi.

"Hey, Yami," Yugi greeted with a smile. "What's up?"

"This," Yami tossed a datapad to Yugi, who caught it with a surprised look on his face. "It contains vital information on Baccah's whereabouts."

Mystified, Yugi plugged the datapad into his computer. Once the data was up, he scanned over it quickly. His daemon sat on his shoulder, her bright mouse eyes watching the flow of information dance across the screen.

Yugi sat back in his seat, stunned. "After everything he's done, he's foolish enough to return to his home planet? Every decent Draconian there hates him! And blocking the cavern entrance…what is he thinking?"

"He's up to something," Yami said seriously. "It's almost as if he wanted us to know where he was."

Yugi sighed. "Well, trap or not, I have to tell Mr. Kaiba about this."

Yami looked grimly at the picture of Baccah that was up on the screen of his brother's computer. The Draconian had an evil, smug sneer on his face. "I certainly hope Seto Kaiba can take him down. Baccah is supposed to be one heck of a fighter."

Yugi's daemon, Milserani, spoke up. "If Kaiba fails, then there is no one else in the universe who could do it. Kaiba is the only one who can beat him."

Yugi fervently hoped that his daemon was right.

…………………………………

Seto got up quietly in the middle of the night, taking care not to make the slightest noise; Mokuba's room was right next to his and he did not want to wake his little brother.

Ilena gave a sleepy whine and rose to her feet, following Seto out of the bedroom and into the dining area. Daemons couldn't go more than a few yards from their humans; tired or not, she had to get up and follow Seto.

Seto absently patted her on the head, then fixed a mug of hot chocolate, pouring a little bit into a bowl for Ilena to drink as well. A few minutes passed by in silence, but finally, Ilena could take no more.

"You're thinking about facing Baccah, aren't you?" She asked quietly.

Seto stiffened, then relaxed. "Yes. He's a murderer, Ileana, he killed our parents, not to mention countless other people. I admit, I'm…afraid of what I might do when I face him. On all of our previous runs, we never killed anyone. But…I'm not too sure I can hold back with Baccah. Still, I don't want to stoop to his level. I don't want to become a murderer."

"Then don't," Ilena said simply. "Don't kill him. Take him to the Police Troopers, and let the laws decide his fate."

"That's what I would normally do, but I don't know what will happen on this job. These are bad, dark times, Ilena."

Suddenly, a scream echoed from down the hall.

Seto jumped to his feet, heading to his brother's room almost at once. Ilena trotted after him, sharing in his concern and worry.

Mokuba sat shaking on his bed, the blankets wrapped all around him. Liasara was trying to comfort him in the form of a cat, though she was afraid too; she and Mokuba shared the same dreams, bad or good. As soon as Seto entered the room, Liasara turned to face them, for Mokuba had buried his head in his pillow and didn't see them enter.

"We had a bad dream," Liasara explained. "Help him, please! I am so afraid, and he is too!"

Ilena took Liasara aside and spoke to her, while Seto sat on Mokuba's bed and gently gathered his little brother into his arms.

"Mokuba? Are you okay, kiddo?"

"S-Seto?" Mokuba asked in a fearful whimper, looking up at his brother with tear-filled eyes.

"Yes, it's me," Seto replied in a soft, gentle voice.

Mokuba's tears finally spilled over and he cried. Seto held him, and out of the corner of his eye he could see Ilena comforting Liasara. He refocused his attention on his little brother, wiping the tears off of Mokuba's face.

"Shhh…it's okay, Mokuba. It was just a bad dream…can you tell me what it was about?"

Mokuba nodded, rubbing his eyes with his sleeve. "Y-yeah…there was this dragon thing, and you were there, and then it…it…"

He couldn't continue. He didn't have to, though-Seto knew what he was going to say. Only one thing could be so bad as Mokuba couldn't even mention it. The dragon creature in his dream must have killed Seto.

"Oh, Mokuba…it's alright…that was just a dream. It won't really happen, I promise," Seto said reassuringly, holding Mokuba close. Mokuba gradually stopped crying, eventually calming down enough to start falling back asleep. With a smile, Seto laid his brother back onto his bed, pulling the blanket over him. Liasara jumped onto the bed and curled up next to Mokuba's head, purring softly.

As Seto got ready to head out the door, Mokuba's voice stopped him.

"Seto?"

Seto turned to face his brother. "Yes?"

"Thanks…" Mokuba yawned, turning over and drifting back to sleep.

Set smiled again and shut his brother's door.

……………………………

The next day, Seto, Mokuba, and their daemons headed back onto the space station. This time, Mokuba was determined to stay with his brother in order to avoid another conflict with the mean boy from yesterday. He stayed close by Seto's side as they traversed through the station.

"Big brother, who gave you the new job anyway?"

"Admiral Motou of the Galactic Government."

"Really? Is he nice? What's his daemon like? Did you get to meet any other Police Troopers?"

"Slow down, Mokuba," Seto said with a smile. "One question at a time, kiddo. Admiral Motou was nice. His daemon was a turtle, and he had his grandson, Yugi, with him. Yugi's my age."

"What's Yugi's daemon?" Mokuba asked curiously.

"A mouse."

"Mr. Kaiba! Hey, Mr. Kaiba!"

Seto turned around to see Yugi coming towards him. The short young man stopped once he was next to the brothers.

"What is it, Yugi?"

"My brother, Yami, managed to find information regarding…um…" Yugi looked at Mokuba, choosing his next words carefully. Seto had told him that Mokuba didn't need to know the details of the job. "The location of your job has been found. All the information and the coordinates of the planet you need to go to is on this datapad." Yugi handed the datapad to Seto.

Seto took it from Yugi and pocketed it. "Thank you, Yugi. We'll leave in a few days."

Yugi rubbed the back of his head. "Actually, Mr. Kaiba, I think you should leave now. There's a bit of a situation on the planet that needs to be resolved immediately."

Seto reached into his pocket and took the datapad back out. He quickly scanned through it, then looked up at Yugi, his eyes hard. "I understand. Come on, Mokuba. We're going to get some supplies, then we're leaving."

"Um, Okay," Mokuba agreed, looking at Yugi, confused. "But, I thought we were gonna…"

"Later, Mokuba. Right now, we have things we need to do."

"Okay," Mokuba agreed, following his brother and Ilena off to one of the shops.

Yugi and his daemon watched them go. "Good luck," Yugi whispered.

…………………

Chapter two, over and done! Read and Review, please!


	3. Chapter 3: Strange Happenings

A/N: Chapter three is up! Many thanks to Tawnykit, for her suggestion on using a different language to name Seto's ship. The name I settled on was Inabikari, which means "Cloud to cloud lightning" or just "lightning" in Japanese. It's a nod to the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Lightning!

Disclaimer: See the previous freakin' one! I don't want to repeat myself.

Yu-Gi-Oh galaxies: The Sphinx Crystal

Chapter Three: Strange Happenings

……………………….

A few days into their journey, Mokuba finally decided to ask Seto where they were going.

"What planet are we headed for, big brother?" Mokuba questioned, hanging over the back of his chair and spinning around.

"Draconia," Seto replied. "We'll be there in a few more hours."

"Okay," Mokuba said. "Where on Draconia are we going?"

"There's a clan of Draconians that have been kind enough to offer us lodgings."

"What do Draconians look like? Are they friendly?" Mokuba asked curiously. Liasara peeked out of his pocket and stuck her little mouse tongue out at Ilena. The wolf daemon rolled her eyes.

"Some clans are friendly, some are warlike. However, they never attack without reason. As for what they look like, well, you'll have to wait and see."

Mokuba's anticipation grew as they continued to travel trough the stars.

……………………………………………………

Seto first realized something was up when the ship's com device beeped, signaling that it was picking up something. He quickly pushed the button so the holo relay would show up and also so the beeping would stop. Seto glanced at the copilot's chair next to him, where Mokuba was curled up under Seto's coat. Liasara was snuggled as a ermine on Mokuba's shoulder, both of them fast asleep. Seto gave a sigh of relief that the signal hadn't been loud enough to wake up his brother.

Seto focused his attention on the holo readout in front of him. His eyes widened, then narrowed as he saw what the ship had picked up. A distress signal, and the holo in front of him displayed the ship that had sent it out. It was an odd shaped little craft of a design he had never seen before. It appeared heavily damaged.

Ilena looked at Seto. "Are we going to help them?"

Seto turned the ship in the direction the signal was coming from as a reply. He pressed a few controls, hoping to get a communication through to the damaged ship.

"This is Seto Kaiba, captain of the _Inabikari_,"Seto spoke into his comm. system. "Do you need assistance?"

A young voice replied, "Assistance? Yeah, that would be nice. Half my ship was blown away, after all."

Seto gave a small chuckle. "I can see that. Just hold on; our ship will be there soon."

"Can you take my ship in? I think I can fix it."

"There's plenty of space in the cargo hold for it. Don't worry. What's your name?"

"Suikin Lightningpaw," the voice replied. "I'm from…well, nowhere near here, anyways. It's hard to explain."

"Are you a human?"

"No. I'm a Kitsune."

"I've never heard of that species before…well, we're almost there. I'll talk to you then," Seto deactivated the comm. device, then turned to his daemon. "It looks like we've picked up a new traveling companion."

……………………………………………………

The ship was so heavily damaged that Seto couldn't see how Suikin expected to fix it. The blue and silver vehicle's entire left side had been burned, and the metal (or whatever it was) that the ship was made of had buckled and was dented in several places. Seto had never seen any weapon that could do this kind of damage, but then again, this ship was strange and probably reacted differently to weapons than the ships he knew of.

The owner of this ship, Suikin Lightningpaw the Kitsune, was just as strange as the ship itself. She was small, about three feet tall at the tips of her ears. She looked like a fox, but no fox Seto had ever seen. Suikin's fur was black with a light blue marking her underbelly, ear tips, paws, and tail tip. Her eyes were bright green, with a bright blue lightning-shaped tattoo under each one. Her only clothing was a faded red cloth that was wrapped around her neck like a scarf, and a round clay charm on a string.

Suikin ran back and forth across her ship like a squirrel, sometimes pausing and clinging upside-down on one side as she studied a particular burn or dent. All the while, she was talking to herself, and to the ship.

"Well, that's a nasty burn, nothing some more star metal won't fix, but I don't know if they have any of that here…you've certainly been banged up a lot…" Suikin hopped off the ship's hull and landed next to Seto.

"Well, if I can get my paws on the right material, I can fix that ship up right as rain," she paused and glanced up at Seto. "Now, I want you to tell me exactly where I am, please."

"We're close to Draconia," Seto told her.

Suikin threw up her paws in frustration. "That tells me nothing, Mr. Kaiba. I need to know what galaxy I'm in. I don't have any idea."

"This is the Tuatara Galaxy…wait. You're not from this galaxy? How is that even possible?"

Suikin looked hard at the twenty-five year old bounty hunter, then at the tawny wolf sitting at his side. The Kitsune waved a paw at the damaged ship behind her. "It starts with this. My ship. It's called an Ark, and it's…a form of biotech. It's alive, and sentient. It's in pain now…but anyway, every Ark comes with a special sort of hyperspace drive. Except…except it takes nowhere near as long as hyperspace travel to get to its intended destination. It only takes a matter of minutes."

Suikin paused and looked at Seto. His face was expressionless, but she could tell he was interested in what she was telling him.

"Anyway, this drive can also be used to travel to a nearby galaxy. However, when I engaged this, something went wrong. The drive shorted out, but sent the Ark through anyway. That's what damaged it, and stranded me here."

There was a moment of silence.

"What's the name of your home galaxy?" Seto asked.

"I don't really think it has a name," Suikin replied apologetically. Then, she gestured towards Ilena. "Tell me about your…friend." She had been going to say "pet", but something had told her that would be rude.

Seto laid a hand on Ilena's head. "She's my daemon. Her name is Ilena. Don't the humans in your galaxy-if there are any-have daemons?"

Suikin shook her head. "No, no one has daemons where I come from. Why, is that wrong? Does everyone have daemons here? I know I don't have one…where I come from, "demon" is a word used to denounce something or someone evil."

Seto felt a small twinge of shock. A galaxy where no humans had daemons? That seemed wrong. "Well, it's…unusual. Where you come from, daemons must be inside their humans instead of out. Aliens don't have daemons."

"Ah," Suikin said. "Then I'm normal either way, then."

Seto nodded, then turned at started to leave the cargo hold, Ilena moving silently beside him.

Suikin started to follow him. "Where are you going?"

"To the cockpit. I need to check on my brother, and get us back on course."

"Oh, okay. A little brother?"

"Yes. He's ten." Seto continued ahead, reaching the cockpit. He turned around, and pointed to one of the rooms in the walkway. "You can stay in there and rest. I'll come get you when we land."

Suikin gave a salute. "Yes, sir!" She turned around and went into the room, eager to rest after her long, stressful journey.

……………………………………………

Mokuba and Liasara were still sound asleep in the copilot's chair. Seto pulled his coat up closer around his brother, being careful not to touch Mokuba's daemon. Even though both brothers were extremely close, the unspoken law forbidding the touching of a daemon that was not your own still prevented them from touching the other's daemon, even by accident. Of course, it was not really a law, more of a feeling. It was a terrible breach of etiquette; something so personal and private as someone else's daemon should only be handled by their own human.

Mokuba stirred slightly, and Lia yawned, changing into a small, bright-colored bird. "Seto?" Mokuba asked sleepily, sitting up. "Are we there yet?"

Seto sat down in his seat, busy getting the ship back on course for Draconia. "No, not yet, kid. We had a small delay. We picked up someone from a damaged ship."

Mokuba blinked. "We picked someone up? Who? Why was the ship damaged? Did someone attack it? Was-"

Seto cut him off. "You can ask her later, kid. She's in one of the empty rooms, resting. Her story is a strange one, and I'm not the one to tell it."

Mokuba sighed, disappointed. "Oh, okay." On his shoulder, Lia fluttered her wings irritably.

Seto gave his brother a small smile. "We'll arrive at Draconia soon. You should go get ready."

Mokuba nodded, and with Lia bounding ahead of him as a rabbit, he went to get his stuff together.

…………………………

The space station where Yugi Motou and his brother Yami worked was just as busy that day as any other day.

So busy, in fact, that no one noticed Katrina and her fisher daemon.

The young woman had pried open a panel in one of the station's walls. With Martin her daemon keeping watch, she set about cutting wires and reconnecting them in the wrong place.

Finally, she was done. Katrina carefully put the panel back into place, aligning it just right, so that it looked as if no one had touched it.

Her daemon looked at her. "Did it work?"

Katrina nodded. "Yes. Their communications are down. By the time they realize it, and figure out how to fix the problem, it will be too late for them to send out any distress signals."

Martin's gaze swept over the station. "What does he want with the station, anyway? He'll soon have an entire city under his control, so why a space station?"

"It's in case the first plan fails. He needs to have a…back-up laboratory."

…………………………………………

Suikin splashed water from the refresher's sink onto her face. Well, to tell the truth, she had no idea if they called it a "refresher" in this strange galaxy anyways. Seto had woken her up a few minutes ago to tell her that they would reach this Draconia planet in about twenty minutes' time.

Running her fur dry with a towel, the Kitsune made her way towards the large bed (well, it was large by her standards!) and sat on its edge, chin in paws.

Everything here was so different…would she ever get home?

She had left her door open; being furred creature, she had no need for clothes and therefore no need really for privacy when she cleaned up. Besides, she wanted to know when they had landed, and it would save time if Seto didn't have to open her door.

So, with the door open, it was hard to miss the young boy who peered around it, curiosity shining in his eyes as his cat daemon leaned against his leg.

Suikin looked up, smiling. "Hello."

"Um…hi," The boy suddenly looked nervous. "I…we were wondering…that is, Lia and I wanted to know…"

Suikin flopped back on the bed with a pretend groan of annoyance. This must be Seto's little brother, she decided. Suikin had a little brother of her own; she knew how to deal with them.

"You wanted to know about me. Seto has a big mouth, eh?"

Mokuba bristled at that statement, and Lia changed into a small dragon and bared her fangs at Suikin. "Seto does not have a big mouth! Don't talk about him like that, it's rude and…"

Suikin sat up, grinning. "Oh, relax, kid, I'm just kidding."

Mokuba's anger faded away, and Lia changed into a mouse and crept up to his shoulder. "Oh. Well, I'm, sorry for getting mad…I just don't like hearing people talking bad about my big brother…"

"Hey," Suikin said suddenly. "I just noticed something. Your daemon has changed shape twice, but I was with Seto earlier and his daemon didn't change once. Why is that?"

"You don't know about daemons?" Mokuba asked, curiously.

"No," Suikin said. "Humans don't have daemons where I come from. You see, I'm from another galaxy, and…"

Suikin repeated the explanation she had given Seto, and Mokuba listened, wide-eyed. Liasara even changed into a lemur so she could be wide-eyed too.

"Another galaxy? Wow…"

Suikin was watching Liasara curiously. "Aha. There. Your daemon changed again!"

Lia wrapped her lemur tail around Mokuba's wrist as the little boy explained daemons to Suikin. "Well, this is Liasara, but I just call her Lia. She can change because I'm still a little kid. Y'see, when people grow up, their daemons can't change anymore. They just settle on one shape and stay that way forever."

"Really?"

"Yeah. But I don't want Lia to ever settle. I like it when she changes. I don't want to grow up, and she doesn't either."

"I don't want to grow up either, but it happens to everyone eventually. My species stay kids for thousands of years, but we eventually become adults…I' m just over nine hundred years old, but I'm about the same as you," Suikin told Mokuba, enjoying the look of surprise on his face.

"You're…over nine hundred? Wow! And you're still a kid?"

"Yep."

"Wow," Mokuba said again, before remembering that he hadn't really introduced himself yet. "Oh, I'm Mokuba, by the way."

"My name's Suikin," The young Kitsune offered her paw, and Mokuba shook it.

"Hey, Mokuba? Suikin? We're landing on Draconia now," Seto had arrived in the doorway, his wolf daemon beside him. Lia, still in lemur form, jumped off Mokuba's shoulder and led the way to the cockpit, her tail held high in the air. Once they arrived, Mokuba, Seto, and Suikin settled into the chairs there. Ilena lay on the floor next to Seto, and Lia leapt onto Mokuba's lap. Mokuba wrapped his arms around his daemon and looked at Draconia's jungle through the veiwscreen.

"Hey, Seto, where is the clan where we're stating?"

"It's on a beach. We're almost there," Seto replied, as the jungle thinned out and was replaced with cliffs and dunes. They could see the blue sea sparkling in the distance.

"Reminds me of home…" Suikin murmured to herself, in voice so low that no one else could hear it.

The ship _Inabikari _came to a graceful, swooping landing on the beach. Seto stood up, and activated the exit ramp. "There's a small procession waiting for us out there. Mokuba, remember, behave yourself. And Suikin? You too."

"Yes, _mother_," Suikin and Mokuba chorused together.

Seto gave them a mock glare. "Cut it out, you two. You've only just met and already you're best friends. I think we should warn the locals, Ilena," Seto added to his daemon.

"Hey," Mokuba protested. "Seto, we'll be good."

Seto smiled. "Well, that's nice to know. Come on."

The small party made there way outside; Seto lead the way with Ilena at his side, followed by Mokuba, who was carrying Lia (still in the shape of a lemur) in his arms, and Suikin, who walked next to Mokuba.

A Draconian with brown hair strode forward at the head of three others. He was dressed plainly in a sandy colored tunic and pants. He held out a hand to shake Seto's.

"Welcome to the Oceanic Clan, Seto Kaiba. We're so grateful you've come. My name is Byron. I'm King Russo's Captain of the Guard. Come with us, there's a dinner being held for you back in the clan cave. Who are your companions?"

Seto introduced them. "This is my little brother Mokuba and his daemon Liasara, and this is our new friend, Suikin Lightningpaw."

Captain Byron nodded. "Very pleased to meet you all. Now, if you could follow me…"

Mokuba was looking at the Draconians, his eyes wide with fear. Lia became a mouse and hid in his hair.

There was no mistaking it. The creature in his dream had been a draconian. But…Mokuba relaxed slightly. There was no danger here, these Draconians were obviously friendly. Mokuba ran after his brother, with Lia taking on the form of a gull and flying beside him. Suikin ran after them on all fours (she ran faster that way), and the travelers headed into the fire lit caves that were filled with the smell of good food and the warm feeling of being among friends.

…………………………….

A/N: So, that's the third chapter. You should bloody well read and review it, I stayed up all night working on this.


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